You Are What You Eat: How Conditions of Growth Influence The Properties of Myco-Materials

Fungi are remarkably adaptive organisms, modifying their behaviors and characteristics in response to their environment, including nutrient availability. Over the past 15 years, fungi have emerged as a promising source of sustainable materials, finding applications in areas such as packaging and building materials. However, there are still knowledge gaps in the field, compromising our ability to consistently produce reliable materials. In this presentation, we delve into the potential of manipulating growth environment to tune material properties, drawing both from the wider literature and our own research. Our aim is to contextualize the current state of the art and to ask the question: How can materials science leverage biological adaptation to develop functional mycelium-based materials?